China's steel industry has entered a hard time after seven years of rapid expansion, and a turnaround is unlikely until the second quarter next year, said Qi Xiangdong, deputy secretary with China Iron and Steel Association.

Slackening demand in both domestic and overseas markets have influenced the country's 71 major steel makers, according to Qi. Their profit totaled 126.8 billion yuan (18.5 billion U.S. dollars) during the January-October period, down 0.93 percent from a year earlier.

Forty-two large or medium-sized steel companies posted loss in October. The combined losses reached 7.8 billion yuan.

The proactive fiscal policy and moderately loose monetary policy as well as the central government's endeavor to boost domestic demand and fixed asset investment would all have positive impacts on the development of the steel manufacturing industry in 2009, Qi said.

Last month, China unveiled a stimulus package estimated at 4 trillion yuan amid efforts to offset adverse global economic conditions by boosting domestic demand.

All the money are planned to be spent over the next two years to finance programs in 10 major areas, such as low-income housing, rural infrastructure, water, electricity, transportation, the environment, technological innovation and rebuilding from several disasters, most notably the May 12 earthquake.

Although the elimination of export duties on 67 types of steel, effective from Dec. 1, would help cut export cost, Qi expected the steel export to slump next year due to dwindling global demand.

(Xinhua News Agency December 7, 2008)